kkplx
2014-06-06, 06:45 AM
Disclaimer: This is my own viewpoint of the matter and as anything anyone writes purely a subjective perspective on the issue at hand - for the unadulterated picture I've linked the Video of the session in my post.
Hey there, sort of at a loss right now regarding one of my players - the guy had some bad experiences with another DM that basically handwaved a LOT of stuff mechanically, and because of that he's extremely touchy on anything that seems to take control from him. I allowed him to play a StP Erudite after discussing the class with him and so far he's been doing well.
Last Session though was the first time he ever tried to make mental contact with a possibly hostile being, an aboleth that had dried up and was now in its long dreaming. (Here's the Sequence live, as it happened (http://www.twitch.tv/chrisguru/b/535353495?t=23m50s)) Creature failed its will save and he made his checks to learn of the powers it knows.
Here's where the problem started. Since he was making contact with an extremely alien and old mind, I described the mental contact as a sort of dive into a vast ocean of salty, dark blue water and a sensation of drowning, while he was searching for the powers. He then immediately stopped my talking to state that the contact takes 1 round and kept interrupting to insist on it even while I was trying to explain that it feels longer mentally while only a round passes outside. There were no ill effects to him due to the form the mind of the aboleth took, only fluff/flavor. He then kept a negative attitude for a long time (visible shortly after (http://www.twitch.tv/chrisguru/b/535353495?t=31m30s), for example: He wrote an Emote that his character was washing his hands, I started to elaborate and he agressively interrupted again with "you gonna tell me what i'm doing?" - during the session I was oblivious to his drastically changed attitude since I was busy DMing - watchign the VoD you can see a lot more by watching his camera.) and is now discussing with me on skype about the issue:
"I disagree with the fluff you gave. I'm not temporarily transported into their mind and time doesn't slow."
"nor do I feel in a different world"
"the fluff is that it takes 6 seconds to make mental contact."
I checked the psionics books just to make sure. There didn't seem to be any fluff defined whatsoever for "mental contact". The mechanics are "1 round, provokes AoO, Will save, willing only unless unconscious", the fluff is "mental contact". I therefore came up with a description of the contact and its success/failure that was related to the creature, an aboleth. Yet this player is currently very aggressively arguing against any such fluffing of game mechanics.
To me his reaction seems entirely unreasonable and actually insulting to me, since we both played in the game where the DM was making up actual mechanics to fit his encounters and deny the use of abilities like divination and the two of us actually discussed it multiple times. It is something I actively avoid or thought I was avoiding, yet he actually said "you're turning into that guy".
I guess what it comes down to is that I'm looking for a third party opinion on our issue and the fluffing I did in that specific case. I thought fluff like that is both okay and expected from a DM, to give life to the dice rolled and the time spent, but apparently the player is under the strong impression that I overstepped my boundaries as a DM.
Hey there, sort of at a loss right now regarding one of my players - the guy had some bad experiences with another DM that basically handwaved a LOT of stuff mechanically, and because of that he's extremely touchy on anything that seems to take control from him. I allowed him to play a StP Erudite after discussing the class with him and so far he's been doing well.
Last Session though was the first time he ever tried to make mental contact with a possibly hostile being, an aboleth that had dried up and was now in its long dreaming. (Here's the Sequence live, as it happened (http://www.twitch.tv/chrisguru/b/535353495?t=23m50s)) Creature failed its will save and he made his checks to learn of the powers it knows.
Here's where the problem started. Since he was making contact with an extremely alien and old mind, I described the mental contact as a sort of dive into a vast ocean of salty, dark blue water and a sensation of drowning, while he was searching for the powers. He then immediately stopped my talking to state that the contact takes 1 round and kept interrupting to insist on it even while I was trying to explain that it feels longer mentally while only a round passes outside. There were no ill effects to him due to the form the mind of the aboleth took, only fluff/flavor. He then kept a negative attitude for a long time (visible shortly after (http://www.twitch.tv/chrisguru/b/535353495?t=31m30s), for example: He wrote an Emote that his character was washing his hands, I started to elaborate and he agressively interrupted again with "you gonna tell me what i'm doing?" - during the session I was oblivious to his drastically changed attitude since I was busy DMing - watchign the VoD you can see a lot more by watching his camera.) and is now discussing with me on skype about the issue:
"I disagree with the fluff you gave. I'm not temporarily transported into their mind and time doesn't slow."
"nor do I feel in a different world"
"the fluff is that it takes 6 seconds to make mental contact."
I checked the psionics books just to make sure. There didn't seem to be any fluff defined whatsoever for "mental contact". The mechanics are "1 round, provokes AoO, Will save, willing only unless unconscious", the fluff is "mental contact". I therefore came up with a description of the contact and its success/failure that was related to the creature, an aboleth. Yet this player is currently very aggressively arguing against any such fluffing of game mechanics.
To me his reaction seems entirely unreasonable and actually insulting to me, since we both played in the game where the DM was making up actual mechanics to fit his encounters and deny the use of abilities like divination and the two of us actually discussed it multiple times. It is something I actively avoid or thought I was avoiding, yet he actually said "you're turning into that guy".
I guess what it comes down to is that I'm looking for a third party opinion on our issue and the fluffing I did in that specific case. I thought fluff like that is both okay and expected from a DM, to give life to the dice rolled and the time spent, but apparently the player is under the strong impression that I overstepped my boundaries as a DM.